Mumbai: Nurses to be trained by Australian academics

Over 10 Australian academics will be brought from two institutes under Health Careers to India to train teachers and nurses on healthcare specialities such as orthopaedics, paediatrics, gynaecology and intensive care.

An MoU was signed Monday between the Maharashtra Nursing Council (MNC) and an Australian institute to provide training to nurses in specialised medical care in regions like Vidarbha. Likely to be expanded to cover over 2.03 lakh registered nurses in the state in four years, the move will better-equip nurses to handle critical cases in places where the doctor-patient ratio is poor.

“The image of nurses is that they only assist doctors. But nurses are the ones responsible for monitoring post-operative patients. Through these courses, we will teach them intensive care. They are the ones who stay with patients round the clock,” said Dr Ramling Mali, president of MNC.

Over 10 Australian academics will be brought from two institutes under Health Careers to India to train teachers and nurses on healthcare specialities such as orthopaedics, paediatrics, gynaecology and intensive care. “The modules will be seminars, conferences with experts and online teaching courses,” said Biju Kunnumpurath, CEO of Health Careers, which is also partnering with the Kerala and Uttar Pradesh government for specialised nursing education.

Currently, while nurses are completing graduation in BSc, there are few takers for post-graduate education in nursing due to poor placement opportunities in India. The specialised courses by the MNC, a regulatory body of nurses in Maharashtra, will now help open avenues abroad for job placements.

The MNC currently has 2.03 lakh nurses, of which 12,717 are graduate nurses while 1.9 lakh are auxiliary and general nurse midwives.